PlaneEnglish: ARSim

The app won’t even open

At first I thought it was having issues with my accent, but it wasn’t. There needs to be a better way of indicating a step is done, something more obvious than the next arrow being enabled. It took me doing a slip of tongue before noticing it won’t let you advance without finishing first. Please look into an app, like DuoLingo for inspiration. On the plus side, having to say things out loud took the fright I had initially. I feel more confident now. The app is kinda expensive though. It feels like the developer concluded student pilots must love expensive stuff.

I tried this app for a month (VFR). I’m a rusty private pilot and want to get my skills sharp again, including my radio work. While this app does a great job of instilling the basics of proper phraseology (and even pronunciation in some cases), I found the various chapters and topic sub-groupings confusing, and the user interface with the mic and other buttons at the bottom of the practice screen a bit perplexing at first. Some trial and error and a YouTube video or two got me sorted, but I didn’t find it especially intuitive. For instance, I assumed the mic button was a press-and-hold to talk button, but is instead a TAP-to-record button (no need to hold it down when speaking as in the real airplane). Also, the accuracy grade bar that illuminates in different colors from red to green appeared at first to be a kind of equalizer, presumably measuring my volume and cadence, not reflecting a score of some kind. Again, this was figured out after a few minutes, but a simple numerical score might be an improvement. Lastly, in what I hope is being taken as constructive critique, please get rid of the synthesized ATC responses. They’re terrible, akin to what I remember from twenty years ago using the Comm1 Radio Simulator software on my PC. Some real human voices recorded speaking the responses over a scratchy VHF radio would level-up the realism and the fun of learning the back-and-forth between pilot and controller. Also, for student pilots, it wouldn’t be so starkly different from what they’ll hear in their headset during real flights in the system. I know nothing about app development, but since all the app’s scenarios are scripted, it would seem to be only a matter of getting some controllers (or just some voice actors) to pre-record all the various ATC responses, preferably over an actual radio. All that said, I’m still giving this app an enthusiastic 4 stars for its thorough coverage of the myriad concepts involved, the fact that it offers both VFR and IFR comms simulation, is reasonably priced, and conveniently usable on phone, tablet, and desktop devices.

Wish I knew about his when I was starting off. Follows a organized learning process from start to beginning and the microphone recording has some bugs but overall amazing app for learning.

This app is great for learning and pronouncing radio calls. The developers did great by allowing for multiple different teaching styles so that people can use it the way that helps them the best. Overall five stars, use it everyday!

Haven’t found anything like it for free. This is the exact training app I’ve been looking for. It has what I’ve needed to train for, but didn’t really know how to start, for FREE. There is a majority of the app you have to pay for, but the free portion is perfect for me right now!

I’ve had ARsim for about a month now and I’ve purchased the IFR subscription to practice craft clearance. Definitely recommend if you struggle with getting them it has definitely helped me a lot.

Just getting started with my PPL. Working my way through the free version of the app now. Very basic at first, but from what I can explore in the app, it all looks very promising.

If you’re just starting or about to start taking flight lessons, a subscription to PlaneEnglish helps your confidence on the radio. I used PlaneEnglish almost everyday for 10-15 min for about a month before starting my Private flight training and I was making all the radio calls the first day. The first one or two were still a little nerve wracking, but then all the time you’ve spent practicing calls sets in. It helps pilot workload and anything that can help there is worth it. Would highly recommend to any new student.

I wish I knew about this sooner. It has some slight hiccups here and there but overall helped with IFR communications as well as some other useful features.